Ask 10 people What is quality content?…get 11 answers!
However, when it comes to search rankings, Google is the ultimate judge of our content. They determine whether our sites will be listed on the first page or buried on the tenth page. As all website owners know, the algorithm they use to make that decision is complex and unpublished…and always changing!
The recipe for Google’s secret sauce is closely guarded but they do give out hints and non-specific information on their YouTube Channel Google Search Central. They answer questions from the viewers live. Their office hour replay from October 22, 2021 offers website owners and content creators some very useful information.
About a third of the way into the video, John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst at Google, cleared up a misconception when he confirmed that “technical SEO [improvements] are just as important as content.” He then went on to further define “quality content”. When Google is judging quality, it looks at more than your text. They actually look at your entire website, including layout, design, speed, and more.
It is clear that there are no shortcuts to SEO success. Even if we knew the recipe of Google’s secret sauce, it’s likely to be so complex that it would require months, or perhaps years, to fully understand how all of the individual metrics are calculated and how all those measurements interconnect to determine your content’s ranking.
Google does give us clues as to which parameters are important. Some of them are just common sense. Our best chance for SEO success is to experiment, to take educated guesses, trial and error. We just need to accept that fact and have fun with the process!
Have you had SEO success? How did you achieve it? Do you need to make changes every time Google adjusts their algorithm? Please share!
© 2021 Tracey Copeland, Rolling Sands Consulting.
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